


we don't have to grow up

by CalicoColors



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Fun, Gen, POV Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Sleepovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-26 14:10:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18283883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CalicoColors/pseuds/CalicoColors
Summary: Even though everything has changed, nothing really has between them.(Sleepovers between three best friends throughout the years, from starry-eyed islanders to heroes of light).





	we don't have to grow up

The last school bell rings for the day, sending a flood of kids out the doors, chattering loudly. Kairi fights through the crowd, pushing people aside as politely as possible in her rush to the front as excitement bubbles in her stomach. Today’s the _day_ , the weekend she’s been looking forward to is finally here, and she wants to run down to the docks and shout it off the shore because she just can’t _wait! Today’s the day!_

She’s the first one to make it to their meeting spot, the one just to the side of the doors at the second pillar. It’s another minute of her tapping her feet before she sees Riku’s distinctive hair swim his way through the crowd towards her. He’s already one of the tallest in the class at thirteen, so its easy for him to force a path and tap the pillar.

Sora pops out a few seconds later, huffing. “Cheaters! How do you guys always make it here so fast?”

“You snooze you lose, Sora,” Riku says smugly. “2 to 1.”

“It’s your stupid long legs,” Sora grumbles, kicking at his shins. “And Kairi’s too sneaky!”

“I’m just that good,” Kairi says, leaning against the pillar with the conceited air of a pompous queen. Sora kicks at her, too. “So, are we ready to head out or what?” She’s so antsy that she can’t keep the impatience out of her voice, dancing from foot to foot restlessly.

Sora perks up. “Woo, sleepover!” Without warning, he sprints on ahead, ignoring their shouts as they hasten to catch up.

They’ve been planning this sleepover for the past week, talking over their plans during lunch and every free period they had. A few times, they even passed a few notes in class, which was admittedly pretty dumb. If one of them got detention, that would really throw a wrench in their plans; Kairi almost got caught twice, but that didn’t stop her. There was just too much to plan!

They begged Sora’s parents two weeks prior to let them stay over, and because Sora’s parents are lovely and kind people who can’t resist the three of them giving them the puppy eyes all at once, they almost immediately gave in when asked.

This definitely isn’t the first sleepover they’ve have, but it’s been way too long since their last one. Sure, they already see each other every day, but it’s just not the same as a full-blown _sleepover_ , which is even more awesome and exciting and fun as just another hang out day.

This time, Sora wins the race when they finally crest the hill leading to his house. “Ha! 2 to 2!”

“Now who’s the cheater?” Riku mutters. Kairi laughs, tagging second as she just barely passes Riku, who gives her a betrayed look when he falls back. Track and field has been a good outlet for her boundless energy, with the added benefit of allowing her to keep up when Sora and Riku get caught up in another one of their silly competitions. Also, its fun to gloat over her wins while they argue.

Sora’s parents are relaxing in the living room when they dash in. “Remember the rules, kids. Don’t stay up too late and don’t be too loud, okay?” Sora’s mom reminds them, giving them a look.

They all give her their best innocent blinks and _yes-ma’am-_ nods back like the little angels they are. Of course, Sora’s mom sees right through them, but only shakes her head fondly at them when they rush up the stairs to Sora’s room.

As soon as she walks in, Kairi lets her bag drop to the floor. It’s already filled with her overnight stuff, and she already left a note on the counter before leaving for school that morning, _and_ she already finished all her homework in class. Without another care in the world, she flops on the bed with a content huff _._

It feels so good to not have to worry about anything else other than bothering her two best friends this weekend. The weekend is all _theirs_ and it’s _glorious_.

Sora seems to feel the same way, eyes shining as he bounces on his feet. “So? What should we do first, guys?” He rubs his hands together in eager excitement. Riku hums, looking out the window.

“It’s still light out. Want to head down to the beach? It’s supposed to be low tide,” Riku suggests.

Kairi sits back up. “Sora’s beach or the play island?”

Sora groans. “I’m not rowing. No way. This is a weekend of fun and relaxation and there’s no room for rowing in either of those things.”

“Fine, you big baby, we’ll stay on the mainland,” Riku says, already digging through his bag for his swim stuff.

“Oh, oh, I actually found this really cool like, cavern or something a few days ago, I forgot to tell you!” Sora tears through his dresser, accidentally flinging a sock bundle at Kairi in his rush. She throws it back at his head, bouncing off Sora’s thick head to the messy floor.

“Let’s go, then!” Kairi says, and drags her bag over.

The cavern is more of a narrow cliff overhang, but it’s still neat to duck under it and carve their initials in the rock wall, just like they do at the secret place. They also find a lot of little crabs peeking out of the sand. Kairi giggles as they run over her hands and click their tiny claws, fascinated, watching them dig tiny holes into the ground. _Adorable._

When Riku gets bored of crab-watching, he drags Kairi out by her heels, and she shrieks as she’s thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Annoyingly, he’s not even a little bit phased by her trying—and failing—to wiggle out from his hold.

“Put me _down_ , you jerk! I swear to— _augh!”_ Her angry retorts cut off as she’s flung into the deep surf. When she pokes her head up from the water, sodden and indignant, it’s to see Sora whooping and hollering at her from the shore. Kairi spits water at him. They’re _both_ jerks.

“Nice one, Riku! You really—hey, wait wait wait _WAIT—”_ Sora’s protests trail off when Riku picks him up, too, and tosses him in with a resounding _SPLASH._

“No fair!” Kairi yells as Sora pops up beside her with a gasp. His hair, normally so poofy and styled, lays flat and stringy over his face as he pouts, pushing it away from his eyes. Riku laughs at them, all high and mighty, thinking he’s safe and sound on the beach shore.

_Oh, he’s in for it now_. Slyly, she glances at Sora, who catches on her look immediately with a matching grin.

When she mutters “three, two, one—go!” under her breath, they leap back to shore as quickly as possible, rushing Riku before he realizes what’s happening.

He lets out an undignified yelp when they force him under the waves, and mock him for it when he comes back up for air. Serves him right! And before she can high-five Sora for a job well done, a ball of seaweed is lobbed at her, tangling in her hair from none other than her partner-in-crime.

And you know what, that’s _it_ , no more games, it’s an all-out, free-for-all, no-mercy warzone, and it’s a war Kairi intends to _win._

The fight is _brutal,_ and they eventually have to call it a draw (for now) because they’re all far too stubborn to give up and someone’ll end up actually getting hurt sooner rather than later. As a truce, they instead take turns jumping off a low-swinging palm, practicing kickflips and rating each other on level of coolness.

“Check _this_ one out, guys!” Sora hypes. Cracking his knuckles for dramatic effect, he saunters down the trunk with confident strides. Kairi and Riku watch from the sidelines with arms crossed, already judging.

They don’t have to wait long until disaster strikes. Too focused on showing off than looking where he was going, Sora slips, ungracefully bellyflopping into the water with a loud yelp and a _smack_ that’s likely heard from miles away. The two of them wince sharply, doubling over in sympathy pain.

Yup. Flawless.

He redeems himself next round when he finally manages to show off his big trick, a backflip that both of them can’t help but be impressed with, especially when he sticks the landing. But he’s still a nerd with a big bellyflop bruise on his front, so he definitely loses major coolness points for that.

Kairi feels her back burning from not enough sunscreen and there’s still seaweed tangled in her hair and she _loves_ it, laughing and joking and pushing each other around until the sun sets.

Back inside hours later, sunkissed and flushed, Sora has the bright idea of building a blanket fort. This turns out to be an incredibly bad idea, because Riku has terrible balancing skills, Sora has the attention span of a goldfish, and Kairi is more focused on messing with them than she is with actually helping.

“Almost...” Riku sticks out his tongue in concentration as he carefully, carefully layers the blanket over the desk chair. It stays, this time.

“Yes!” A victory cheer, just as the blanket slumps and falls to the floor with a sad, defeated _whump_. Riku puts his head in his hands.

From her perch on the bed, Kairi laughs. “Awh, poor Riku, defeated by blankets. So sad.”

The words have the desired effect. Goaded, Riku peaks up with a gleam in his eyes. Viciously, he gathers them back in his arms and starts arranging again.

“Hey, guys, have you seen my slippers—oh, oops,” Sora walks into the room and right into a collection of pillows Riku had spent ten minutes stacking.

Kairi freezes with a chip halfway crunched between her teeth, suddenly too afraid to break the sudden tense silence _._ There is absolutely no emotion in Riku’s eyes, darkly tracking Sora as he cautiously backs away from the fallen pillows.

Sora’s parents have to come in and tell them to calm down after Riku tackles Sora, ruining all their work, as Kairi eggs them on from the sidelines and narrates like a wrestling announcer.

But, two hours later, the fort is eventually built (badly), and they watch a movie in it on Sora’s TV they dragged down (Sora’s pick; Kairi isn’t allowed to pick the movies anymore after the scary movie incident, and Riku can never decide on anything).

Sora sings too loud during the musical parts and Riku steals all the snacks, but it’s still one of the best hour-and-a-halves of Kairi’s life. Honestly, this whole _day_ has been one of the best-evers in her opinion, and there’s still so much more of it to go.

Kairi and Sora cheat terribly at Uno when Sora pulls out the deck from his bedside table, rattling it like a challenge. Riku doesn’t until he realizes that Sora is discarding way too many cards on his turn and that Kairi keeps peeking at his hand, disguising it as a stretch. The game devolves into a fight of who can cheat the most, and eventually Sora throws his cards at Kairi’s face, which only causes the game to further devolve into a pillow fight.

Sora’s parents finally tell them to go to bed when Sora lets out a battle cry that echos around the house, on the verge of pillow elbow-dropping Kairi with an epic finishing move.  

Of course, they listen until they leave, but stay quiet while they play a video game on low volume, switching the controllers between them every few minutes and chatting aimlessly.

It’s nearly midnight when Sora begins to lose steam. He’s always the first to fall asleep during sleepovers, but he always tries to stay up as long as he possibly can, fighting against the inevitable grasp of sleep.

“I think you’re done for the night,” Riku says, sensibly, plucking the controller from Sora’s hands as his eyelids droop for the fourth time in half as many minutes.

“Nooo,” Sora whines, eloquently, but can’t fight them off when Kairi clicks the game off and starts to gather blankets.

“Oh, hush, we still have all the rest of the weekend to do more stuff.” Kairi flicks him in the forehead. Really, Kairi doesn’t want to go to bed either, but she knows it’s for the best because otherwise Sora will try his hardest to stay up with them and then wake up all groggy and ill-looking.

“Ugh, fine, if you guys _insist_ ,” Sora says as if it’s some big sacrifice he’s doing for them and not like he’s already snuggling down into the blankets, halfway to sleep.

When Riku lays down, Sora immediately gravitates to him, snuggling into his arm as he settles in. Reaching a hand out the fort, Kairi manages to click the lamp off after a moment of grasping.

It’s a full moon night, and there’s just enough light peaking in from the cracks of their fort to pick her way around. The second she lays down, Sora goes for her, too, dragging her close. There’s a content, sleepy smile on his face which Kairi finds ridiculously cute and charming. Sora’s just _that_ adorable.

Riku tries to pull away, a little uncomfortable from the attention, but Sora doesn’t relent, forcing him to give up with a huff. Still, he meets Kairi’s eyes over Sora’s head and gives her an eyeroll, just to show how _totally_ annoyed he is, yup, this is awful. No way, that’s not Riku smiling softly in the faint light, leaning in ever closer to them. _Sap,_ Kairi thinks fondly.

Out of everything, this is her favorite part of sleepovers—just them, together as it’s always been, peaceful in silence and comfortable in closeness.

She buries her face in Sora’s chest and grasps Riku’s wrist with a content sigh, heart full and happy. This day will forever be hers, in her memory and heart, and hopefully every day after that will follow, too.

In this moment, they are eternal.

* * *

 

A few weeks after that night, Riku begins to pull away from them, slinking off on his own and begging off hang out sessions. Sora’s as cheerful as ever, always supportive of his friends, but Kairi still finds him looking down at the table during lunch with furrowed brows, right at the empty spot where Riku usually sits.

Most days, now, it’s only the two of them hanging out after school. They lay on Sora’s beach by the little cliff overhang, dipping their toes in the water and talking on the shore, feeling the breeze dance over their skin.

For a while now, the island air has felt heavy and electric, as if there’s a static cling in the breeze like in the beginning of a lightning storm. It makes her hair stand on end, and she half-expects a storm to roll in sudden and unexpected at any given time. But the clouds always remain white and fluffy in the blue sky, floating on by as if nothing is wrong

No one else has mentioned it, either, so she assumes its either all in her head or because she’s felt off-balance ever since their third member’s disappearance.

Fed up, Kairi’s tried to corner Riku and _make_ him tell her what’s been going on, but he’s only evasive and elusive these days. “Don’t be stupid, Kairi,” he said after she’d demanded answers, looking just to the left of her. “I’d tell you guys if something’s up. Look, I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you later, alright?”

She watches him walk off with a pang in her chest, feeling like she’s missing something big. Riku always looks away when he lies.

But Riku acts more normal after that conversation, a little of his old attitude shining through, and Kairi lets it go even if she feels a little uneasy at the faraway look he gets in his eyes and of the prickly air surrounding the islands.

Not long after that, the door to darkness is opened. The islands fall apart in a billowy sandstorm, splitting them apart and scattering them across worlds, and Kairi isn’t aware of anything for a very long time.

* * *

 

The next time they’re all together, she’s fifteen and nearly watched the world end for the second time.

There’s been _so much_ happening in the past year that its almost strange to have nothing happening now. No one’s trying to kidnap her, the islands are whole, her friends and family are safe at home, and she’s not missing any memories. Everyone’s okay. Everyone’s safe.

Instead of feeling calm, though, there’s this nervous itch under her skin that she just can’t shake. There are still so many fears that have stuck with her like glue, after leaving The World That Never Was.

What if a black cloak suddenly appears in her room, dragging her to the dark world as she struggles, and screams, and just isn’t _strong enough_ to protect anyone she loves?

What if the door is open in the secret place, leaking toxic dark infection into their worlds again and splitting her up from everyone, left behind once again?

What if she’s too late, finding them cold and broken and swarmed by heartless? What if she forgets them again and every memory they’ve ever shared, lost to the wind and never to be found?

Are her friends okay right now? Is she?

She looks around. All her clothes and books and pencils look as if they belong to someone else, as if another Kairi moved in while she was away. Its hard to focus on normal things like school or what to wear when the dread in her heart keeps dragging her thoughts towards the worst-case scenarios.

Don’t get her wrong; it was relieving and joyful and wonderful to come back home and be swept up in grateful hugs and tearful reunions. She’s so incredibly loved and she’s so, so thankful for everyone on the island, but…

But Kairi feels so detached from that starry-eyed islander of a year ago. Nothing is the same anymore, and she can’t go back pretending to be someone she’s not anymore. Old Kairi would have lived her life happily on the island without another thought towards black cloaks or forgotten memories or brunet boys with stars in his eyes.

Now, all she thinks about are keyblades and world eaters and what lurks in the dark. Most of all, she thinks of everyone she has left to lose, and it scares her. It really, really, honestly, truly, deeply scares her. All her thoughts are worry and anxiety and fear all rolled up into a big tangled knot in her chest, and she holds it without a clue on where to start detangling it.

No, Kairi is not really okay right now.

She’s about to type a message to Sora when a text pops in from the teen in question before she can send her own off.

_you up?_

Kairi quickly messages back. _Yeah. Can’t sleep. You?_

_same._ A pause as she waits until Sora finishes his thoughts, watching the dots dance on the screen. _wanna go to the island? i have smore stuff._

She doesn’t hesitate in replying with _Yes._ There’s nothing for her here, in that other Kairi’s room, and she doesn’t want to be alone with her thoughts anymore. Also, s’mores. Enough said.

_Is Riku coming?_ _I’ll text him,_ she asks, already opening a separate messaging tab and tapping in his number.

_way ahead of u! he’ll be there._

_I’ll meet you guys there then!_

Riku replies to her message just as she hops down from bed. _See you_ , it says simply. Her phone lights up again a minute later with a smiley face, too, as if he had to think about it before sending it.

Quickly, she changes into more sensible clothes and climbs out her window in record time, carefully picking her way down to the docks using her phone light. The waves are dark and ripple ominously under the rocking of the boat, but the moonlight shines bright enough to catch on the beach of the play island, guiding her way.

Honestly, though, she could probably row here in her sleep even without the light, and it takes no longer than fifteen minutes until she’s hitching her boat by the docks and sinking her toes in the pale sand. Riku’s boat is already there, so she scans the island until she spots his silhouette by the paopu tree.

It’s a nice night, tonight. She plops down next to him and hangs her legs off the side of the cliff-face, staring out over the water. There’s a chill in the air as the breeze brushes over them, salty ocean spray splashing on her calves as she lets the peaceful rushing of the waves wash out the gloomy thoughts in her head.

“Hi,” she says. “Can’t sleep either?”

“No,” he replies, one leg tucked under his arm. He looks stiff and uncomfortable as he watches the waves, as if he’s been sitting out here for a while.

Her suspicions are confirmed when she lays a hand on his arm, skin goosebumped and chill to touch. “Jeez, you’re cold! How long have you been out here?”

“Only a little while,” he says, quietly. Everything he says is quieter these days.

Kairi tugs her jacket off and wraps it around his shoulders. “Here, to stay warm.” Hesitantly, Riku pulls at it as if it’s something precious, and not her old coat that’s two sizes too big for her with a tear in the elbow.

“What about you?”

“Oh, I’ll live. Besides, the breeze feels nice right now.” It really does. She didn’t realize how much she missed the ocean until she was worlds away from it.

Behind her, she hears a set of footsteps clatter on the wood bridge. They sound exactly like the ones from Sora’s old sneakers, the ones with the busted sole that makes his steps just a little heavier in the heel, which is the only reason she doesn’t panic at the sound. Like a mantra, she keeps having to remind herself that Organization XIII is gone, and never going to sneak up on her again. _Hopefully._

Lo and behold, it is Sora who slides up to them, tossing an arm around their shoulders. “Hiya!”

Kairi smiles, leaning into his warm hold. “Hiya! So, where’s the goods?”

With a pout, Sora shifts away a bit. “I knew it, you guys only like me for my s’mores stuff. No respect, I tell you.”

Kairi pretends to look very serious, a hand on her chin in deep thought. “Oh, c’mon, we like you for other things. Like…yeah, no, just the s’mores actually.” Beside her, Riku laughs.

“No respect!” Sora pulls away, offering out a hand for each of them. “C’mon, let’s go build the campfire. It’s _cold_.”

They gather a few logs from the cabin where they keep a bundle of spare firewood. Riku stacks it neatly in the charcoal pit—he’s always been the best at making them last the longest, and the only one of them who could strike a spark in less than five minutes. They’re out of flint, though, so Sora just casts a weak Firaga on the wood instead.

It nearly burns up in a half-second blaze of glory because Sora can never do anything in halves, but a few extra logs calm the flames down to a more reasonable level. The rest of the wood is dragged to the sides to use as backrests.

With a grin, Sora pulls out three packages of chocolate from his bag, because Sora is a milk chocolate hog and Riku prefers dark chocolate, the only kind that doesn’t give him sugar headaches. Kairi snatches a bag of marshmallows—her favorite—and tears it open with her teeth, letting one melt on her tongue a bit before biting down, all fluffy and sweet.

“Hey, save some for roasting,” Sora scolds, snatching the bag back, but not before Kairi stuffs four in her mouth at once.

“W’a’ev’r,” Kairi mumbles as disgustingly as possible just to bother them, and the look Riku gives her is so affronted that she snorts, spitting marshmallow mush everywhere.

Sora isn’t much better than her though, because he’s skewering a line of marshmallows on a stick like a shish-kabob. “That’s not going to cook right, you know,” Kairi says, still trying to pluck more marshmallows from the bag he’s holding hostage.

In response, Sora throws one at her head. It rolls around in the sand and, well, it’d be such a shame to waste a perfectly good piece of junk food just because of a little dirt.

“Don’t eat—alright, nevermind, you’re officially gross,” Riku says as Kairi invokes the five-second rule. It’s a little crunchy, but still good, no matter what the snob sitting next to her says. She turns to Sora, about to make a joke about delicate sensibilities, but—stops, words dying on her tongue.

In the firelight, Sora’s dark bags are highlighted brightly, heavy and pronounced under his eyes. His skin lights up in warm hues, as if was burning up from the inside out, an exploding supernova. Sora’s never been one for sitting still, but his tapping seems almost manic tonight, far too restless and jittery to be passed off as just another Sora thing.

But, despite that, his smile is still cheerful and free, and she can tell that it’s not an act he’s putting on so they won’t worry. Around them, Sora has never looked more at ease.

And even though his cheer is contagious, that sick worry-knot still rears its ugly head in her chest. There’s a reason they’re all awake at who-knows what time in the middle of the night on who-cares what day. All of them have been through so much, and she just…doesn’t know what to do. What can she even _say_ , when she can hardly make sense of it herself?

She looks down at her own hands, wondering what they see when they look at her.

Everything’s _fine._ Everyone’s _okay._ So _why do they all still feel like this?_

Idly, she flexes her fingers, remembering the weight of Destiny’s Embrace in her grasp. They’re most definitely not okay, but…right now she just wants to have fun and make s’mores and be best friends. The important stuff can wait just another moment longer, right?

So ( _selfishly,_ her mind whispers) she puts it off, ignoring the pang needling at her.

Predictably, Sora eats all the good chocolate, forcing Kairi to steal some of Riku’s ultra-bitter 90% cacao dirt he calls candy to make up for it.

It’s, predictably, _terrible_. “This is terrible,” she tells him to his face, just so he understands how bad a taste he has in sweets. And he calls _her_ gross. If it’s not rotting your teeth or making you sick to your stomach, what’s even the point?

“Then don’t eat it, dummy,” he says, breaking a piece off the block for himself. Thankfully, he’s lost that intense look he had staring at the waves, eyes now twinkling in mirth as he squishes a marshmallow between two crackers.

Satisfyingly ill after eating far too many marshmallow-cracker sandwiches, she tips backwards into Riku’s lap. Kairi’s jacket is still folded in his arms, making it the perfect pillow to lean on as she watches Sora mess with the fire, the flames dancing in his pupils.

From her vantage position, Riku’s hair glows ethereal in the moonlight, and she’s struck with a sudden good idea. “Can I braid your hair?” She blurts. Saying it sounds ridiculous when she hears her voice out loud, but it’s true. It’s something she’s always wanted to try, but none of them ever had hair long enough to work with. Now’s her chance!

Riku looks down at her, blinking blankly. “Um…sure? If you want?”

Immediately, Kairi gets up on her knees, starting to finger-comb the tangles out of his hair. It’s easy to smooth out, soft in her hands, and soon she starts crisscrossing the strands down his back as she tries to remember the process.

Her first attempt is so awful that she combs it back out halfway through. And the second and third aren’t that much better, lying super crooked and uneven. Yeah, it’s obvious that she hasn’t braided anything in a while. The last time was probably those bracelets she made in fifth grade, and those looked more like tangled multi-colored spaghetti instead of delicate, intricate braids.

Beside her, Sora, the weirdo, is eating his marshmallow-stick like a turkey leg, eating a piece of chocolate between each bite and a graham cracker every other piece. There’s also a half-assed game of 20 questions Sora is walking them through, badly.

“Is it an animal?” Riku asks.

“Yes! Or, technically? Not completely,” Sora answers, furrowing his brows.

“Sora, what, it’s either an animal or it’s not,” Kairi says as she unweaves her fourth attempt, giving him a confused look.

“Okay, fine, I guess it’s an animal.”

“Is it a mammal?” Kairi tugs on a strand too hard and mummers an apology when Riku twitches.

“I don’t think so? The animal isn’t, so no.”

“You’re terrible at this,” Riku says. “Two questions in and we know nothing. Does it have fur?”

“Nope.”

“Feathers?”

“Yes!”

Now they’re getting somewhere. “What about a flat beak?”

“Yup!”

“Oh, oh, it’s a duck!” There’s literally nothing else it could possibly be. Or at least, nothing she can think of.

“Yes, but not just a duck. More specific,” Sora says. She gives him a withering glare.

“Are you kidding me? How can we be more specific then the answer? Also, it’s yes or no only!”

“Well, yeah, but I had a really specific, really loud duck in mind!”

Riku gives Sora a long-suffering look, as if he can’t believe this guy is really one of his best friends. “…is it Donald?”

With a cheer, Sora leaps up and yells, “YES!” while doing a victory shimmy. Kairi shakes her head and faceplants into Riku’s shoulder.

“You’re impossible. Literally the worst.”

Sora wraps his arms around them in a hug. “Awh, you guys love me, don’t deny!”

“Maybe so,” she says, and finishes off the braid.

Selphie always keeps a collection of hair ties in the cabin, so Sora runs over to go pick one up real quick. When he comes back, he’s also carrying a few sand flowers. He holds a finger to his lips when Kairi looks at him, miming putting them in his hair and then pointing to Riku.

Kairi snickers, silently. When she finally manages to finish up the braid, she ties it off with a bright yellow band. In front of her, Riku is leaned forward comfortably, eyes closed and shoulders relaxed as he dozes. With his moment to strike, Sora sneaks up and starts to twine the weeds in his hair.

Unfortunately, Riku snaps out of it when Sora places one behind his ear. “What are you doing?” he asks suspiciously when he notices them quickly look away, trying to play it cool.

“Oh, pish-shaw, nothing,” Kairi says with the world’s most devious grin she can’t seem to hide. Not believing it for a second, Riku pulls out his phone and flips the camera to get a better look at the disaster they made of his head.

“Now you’re a true princess,” Sora says proudly when Riku sees it in all its glory, and Kairi lets the snickers she’s been trying to hold in burst out of her. The braid looks nice, if a little bumpy, but the flowers make it look so silly that she can’t _wait_ to see what he’s going to say about them.

But instead of the exasperated look they’re expecting, he actually doesn’t…do anything? He just stares at at his reflection for a long time, long enough that Kairi gets worried that he’s really going to explode. She can’t read his expression like she used to, and is on the verge of asking what’s wrong—before he finally speaks.

“This is…” Riku stops, stutters. “Really nice. It looks really nice. Thank you, Kairi,” Riku says, messing with the tail end of the braid with a soft, shy grin.

With his bangs out of his face, his eyes are clear and honest, and Kairi feels a little part of her heart go gooey and soft at the genuine compliment. Sora seems to feel the same way, throwing his arms around his shoulders.

“You sap,” he says fondly. “Maybe I should grow out my hair so _I_ can get a cool braid, too. You too, Kairi. We’ll make it our whole look.”

Kairi laughs; she’s doing a lot of that tonight, and it feels so wonderful after feeling so grim and cornered at her house. “Yeah, one day.”

It’s quiet for a while afterwards as they listen to the crickets’ chirp in the grass and the fire crackle in the air. The moon’s moved a-ways across the sky since they first arrived, now a little past its peak but still shining bright and clear.

Even though she’s comfortable and content in the stillness, she still can’t help but look at the sky and wonder. The stars are bright and lonely and far-away, and all she can think about is how many worlds are out there, or when they’re gonna be called away again to save them again, or—cynically—when their luck is going to run out.

Surprisingly, Riku is the one to first break the quiet. “Do you remember all those sleepovers we used to have?”

Sora hums. “Oh, yeah! Those were awesome.”

“I miss those,” he says softly, as if it’s a secret. Maybe it is. Kairi leans into his shoulder harder, sharing the sentiment. Sleepovers without a care in the world. Those are some of her favorite memories, and ones she very nearly forgot for good.

There’s a pause, before Sora leaps up with a determined sparkle in his eyes. “Let’s have one right now, then. I mean, we’re already halfway there, with the firepit and everything.”

“I think you’re thinking of camping,” Kairi says dryly.

“Camping, sleepover, whatever! The only difference is that one’s outside and one’s inside.” The heat bursts over their chill skin as he tosses more logs in the pit and stokes the embers. His glare is just as fiery as the flames, as if daring anyone in the universe to argue that they _can’t_ have a sleepover right here right now.

And well, what Sora wants, Sora gets, especially if she wants the same thing, too.

They can’t stay out all night, as much as she would like to. None of them brought any supplies except s’mores to survive a night on the beach. But it’s not like they’re on any schedule or anything; they can stay up as late as they want, and there’s no responsibilities tying them down for now.

As far as she’s concerned, they have all the time in the world.

Kairi lays down in the sand, eyes never shifting from the stars. There’s still so much she’s worrying about, but its not as frightening as it was a few hours ago. Out of everyone, these two are the ones who’d understand her better than anyone.

Feeling strong, she takes a deep breath in, and finally speaks her mind. “I couldn’t stay there, in my room. I was home, everyone was safe, everyone was happy, and all I could do was worry. I just…can’t believe it’s over, you know? I keep thinking I’m going to forget again, or that I’ll wake up and everyone will be gone and the world will be all dark, and…ugh, I don’t know.”

Even here, she doesn’t know what to say.

A pause. The waves break against shore. “I told my parents I ran away, when they asked what happened,” Sora says, hushed. “And I lied about my nightmares, too. I can’t explain this to them. I don’t think I want to. It would only freak them out, anyways. I just…its hard to put it in words. It was _so much_.”

“Exactly!” Kairi nods, relived that someone _gets it_. “And I love them so much but it’s not the _same_ anymore _._ I feel like I’m failing them or something when they look at me, but not _at me_. Like they’re expecting me to be same old Kairi. But I don’t _feel_ like that ‘Kairi’ anymore. Isn’t that weird?”

He hums. “Not really. I don’t really feel like ‘Sora’ sometimes, either.” Another pause, and Sora swallows. “I can’t stop thinking about what’s next. I feel like I’m just waiting on the edge for the next big disaster or some new evil thing to come and ruin everything again. And I want to help, I always do, but I just want to know how long I have before then. I wish I didn’t have to keep on reliving everything in my dreams, either.”

In response, Riku slides an arm around her shoulders with a squeeze, reaching over with his other hand to Sora. Sora grasps one of each of their hands tightly. That encourages Kairi to keep talking, still secret-soft.

“I’m scared, too. I’m scared of change, and I’m scared of losing everyone again. I don’t know when we’re going to be back home again, or if I can even help when the time comes. I just…really want things to stop changing so fast, sometimes.”

When they both trail off, lost in their minds, Riku decides to finally speak. “…things are different now. _We’re_ different. And its all going to keep on changing and we can’t stop it and it probably isn’t going to be great all the time. But…I think we’re still the same, at heart. Even after I did all those terrible things, or when I was Ansem, you guys still looked at me and called me ‘Riku.’ So…how different can we be? That has to count for something, right?”

Sora laughs softly. “Yeah. Yeah…I think we have to accept both the good and the bad differences. We can’t put this behind us, and—I don’t _want_ to, honestly. I mean, we met so many wonderful people! We helped so many worlds! I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”

Kairi thinks of everyone she’s met, all the people that have helped her along the way—Hayner, Mickey, Naminé, and so, so many others. That pang in her heart goes off again, this time soft with fondness. No, she wouldn’t trade that, either.

“Let’s never change, then, guys,” she says with conviction, and pulls them ever closer. God. They’re all such _saps._

She’ll make sure she won’t forget this, or them. Even if she falls behind, she won’t let anyone take this away from her, and she won’t lose herself along the way. If she has to fight tooth and nail to claw her way back, then so be it; she’s ready to take on the world with nothing but her sheer will and determination, if that’s what it’ll take.

And if Kairi gets her way, they’ll still have sleepovers over the weekends until they’re old and gray, making pillow forts and stargazing on full moon nights without a care in the world.

She looks to either side of her. Sora’s chin digs into her shoulder from where his head rests, wrapped around her like a clingy octopus. Riku’s arm is still warm around her neck, and she can see his fingers curled up at the nape of Sora’s neck as the rest of him is pressed close. And most importantly, their hands— _strong, grounding, warm—_ are still together, clasped tight.

Their parents will probably worry when they wake up to find them missing, but Kairi doesn’t want to think that far ahead right now. They have phones for a reason, anyways. Right now, all she wants to do is have a sleepover with her best friends, just like they did back then when they were kids and not heroes of light or princesses of heart.

Here, Kairi doesn’t want to think about the past or the future or who they are or what they could be. The world can wait on them, for once.

Kairi looks back up at the sky. “That constellation looks a little like you,” she says to Sora, pointing to a Sora-esque collection of stars.

Sora squints at it. “That looks like a weird dog, what are you talking about?”

Riku snorts. “What’s the difference?” Sora pipes up with an indignant “hey!”, squeezing their hands in retaliation.

Kairi laughs, clear and loud and free and so, so happy. “I think I remember some constellations in a book I read once. See that one, with the really bright star, that’s supposed to be the head of a swan…”

**Author's Note:**

> Change is hard, ya’ll. One day you’re worrying about math homework and the next you’re fighting the literal embodiments of darkness with nothing but a giant housekey. Life is just crazy like that.
> 
> I keep writing these guys as really contemplative and introspective. I just can’t help but think about what they went through—I mean, it’s gotta be pretty traumatic, right? I dunno, I’m testing out some new writing styles and trying to work on my dialogue. This was supposed to be like, 3000 words max, but I literally can’t stop once I have an idea. So much fun to write this one! :)
> 
> TL;DR, I love this trio and I would die for them. Please just let them have fun as best friends for a little while! (I kept it as platonic but you can read into it however you want, I don't mind!).
> 
> Title is from “Colorful” by Jukebox the Ghost. One of my favorite bands!


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